Morse key/paddle for sota

Same as many others, I am a very happy user of the Palm Pico Single and the Palm Single. They work great in all weathers, and I can operate the single lever version even with frozen fingers. I do not think that a straight key would be any better for me in cold situations; quite to the contrary, I guess my code would be much worse.

73 de Martin, DK3IT

My two cents:
I use the Pico Paddle for most of my activations, although I prefer the Palm Paddle.
I do not like capacitive touch paddles, and have never found one that is sufficiently accurate.
If you are looking for something a bit special, then you might consider this:

They are about half the price of a Begali. I got to play with one in Friedrichshafen and the feel is very precise. As to how and where you would mount it, well thatā€™s a thread waiting to happenā€¦
73 de OE6FEG
Matt

A block of wood and a couple of paper clips will get you started.

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oooo soo shiny and nice. It is pricey however, but so shiny.

Regarding the Touch Paddle with which I have had great successā€¦ others I have tried were as others have reported, but this one has been perfect. It has adjustable response with a pot on each lever. I have used it in the dry sou9thwestern climate, and I have used it in a rain storm, in the snow, in the cold and in the heat. It has never failed. It is on a tiny board the size of a postage stamp and came from CWTOUCHKEYERS.COM I have built three of them and they all work flawlessly. NONE of the problems others are reporting for other keyers have been a problem with this one.

Also built one of his larger versions, mounted it on a slab of soapstone. It, too, operates flawlessly.

I am thunderstruck to learn that the maker of these wonderful keys, WA1JOS, became a silent key in August.

  • fred kt5x (aka WS0TA)

I use both the Chinese paddle mentioned and the DCP. The DCP needs a base if you didnā€™t buy one with the kit. I havenā€™t installed it on a base and have to hold the paddle with one hand while sending with the other.

The chinese key, which is priced right, works fine but cannot be adjusted as finely as other paddles I own. I accept some rough sending results at times. Chasers need to figure out what I meant sometimes and if it is a critical bit of info, I repeat it anyway.

A good feature of the chinese paddle is that it has a stereo 3.5mm or 1/8" socket and you can use any stereo cable with it to connect to your rig. It observes the paddle wiring standard of tip=dot, ring=dash, sleeve = common.

73 Andrew VK1DA VK2UH

If you are not just ā€œplug-inā€ ham, you can make one by yourself.

http://members.ziggo.nl/cmulder/paddle.htm

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OK, I guess thereā€™s a first time for everything.

Yeah, ā‚¬145 is almost 2 Palm Paddles (which are what we use at the CW Schule Graz). But compared to a ā‚¬248 Begali Adventure it seems almost reasonable. Like the Scheunemann, itā€™s a not so ridiculously priced high end key. Of course, thereā€™s the additional weight as wellā€¦

 de OE6FEG
             Matt

An article in next monthā€™s (December) Funk Amateur magazine is how to print a micro paddle (I presume 3D printer but it doesnā€™t say). So that might be of interest to some on this thread.

73 Ed.

Good one Adrian,

Though I donā€™t use anything to hold my Palm Paddle down. Just hold it in my left hand like a microphone.

And I have three of these little beauties - one for the shack, one for the car and one for the hill (+ Plam Cube).

73

Jack(;>J

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No ā€˜Sā€™ correct URL:

https:https://www.cwtouchkeyer.com///www.cwtouchkeyer.com/

I use an Altoids tin to store my Pico and it also doubles as a handy base. Easier to hold too.

73, Colin

3 Likes

cwtouchkeyer.com has the following unfortunate announcement:

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of Sumner Eagerman, aka. CWTOUCHKEYER.COM, on August 14, 2017.

I regret that we are not accepting orders at this time. In the short-term, we are working to refund all pending transactions until a satisfactory resolution is found. Future direction of CWTOUCHKEYER.COM has not yet been determined. Please check back with this site for updates

I love my Porta Paddle (PP).
Iā€™ll go against the grain a little, as unlike many others, I really dislike my Palm Pico (pp).
Iā€™ve tried to love it, but itā€™s soulless and without feeling :cry:

I admit the PP does need maintenance to keep the pivots clean, but nothing that canā€™t be achieved in a few minutes fettling with a screwdriver and some WD40.
This is really only an issue if it gets wet, and I try and do all my activations ā€œin doorsā€ so a rare problem.

After using several keys in my SOTA outputs. (Palm, single and iambic)
I noticed, that a homemade key that I had at home
It turned out to be the best.
Sounds really good !!!
73 de Dani EA5FV.

https://youtu.be/OYy2cTB1CEQ

5 Likes

wow
your sending sounds like machine gun fire to meā€¦
the other thing. how on earth do you pick out from that pile up?

Great video Dani! Do you have AGC turned off on the KX3?

73, Barry N1EU

I mount my PP on the inside of the plastic box all my kit goes in.
The lid is therefore multi functional and provides a firm easily held base for the key.

i managed to pick some parts of your callsign and the chasers call with that morse. Still too fast for me though.

Nice videos.

1 Like

I have a raft of portable paddles - MFJ, American Morse Porta, Whiterook, etc. Easily the best are the Palm Pico and N0SA mini portable paddle.